Stomach pains can be a sign of strep

I have raised two kids and have three grandkids, yet I have never heard a doctor tell me that lower stomach pains with no other symptoms could be strep throat. I know my mouth dropped open as I shook my head in disbelief.

My granddaughter has spent a week complaining about pain in her navel area. When she has the pain she doubles over and crys. She claims she had no other symptoms, no fever, only a rash around her mouth and upper torso. After giving her tummy meds, she felt better and played, ate and drank as usual.

A couple nights ago, Kristen was riding in the truck and started crying with the pain and then for the first time she vomited. It was time to go to the doctor and find out what was causing this unusual pain.

Urgent Care is open in the evening, so we took Kristen there. The doctor look her over and asked all the questions, then informed us he had seen several people with stomach pains that were diagnosed with strep infection. He thought that's what Kristen had. After taking a throat culture, it only took a minute to come back positive.

Strep can affect many parts of our bodies, including our skin. It can also cause a rash. One strep infection of the skin is impetigo - small bumps that spread forming a honey-colored, crusty rash.

Symptoms of strep throat can include:

 Throat pain
 Difficulty swallowing
 Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus
 Tiny red spots on the soft or hard palate — the area at the back of the roof of the mouth
 Swollen, tender lymph glands (nodes) in your neck
 Fever
 Headache
 Rash
 Stomachache and sometimes vomiting, especially in younger children
 Fatigue

Antibiotics are prescribed to treat strep.

So, if your child complains of stomach pain, take him or her seriously. They may have a strep throat.